Last year’s stamp duty holiday unquestionably powered the sales market as both buyers and sellers tried to benefit from the Chancellor’s discount. Across Oxfordshire, some landlords took the opportunity to try to sell their investment property while the sales market was hot. Some properties sold to home owners, others sold to investors and returned to the rental market, but we have also started to see properties which have failed to sell coming back to the rental market. Our Central Oxford team has a recent example which they re-let within an hour of being reinstructed.
We had successfully let the 1 bedroom, furnished city centre apartment since 2012 with no void periods in that time. When the tenant chose not to renew their tenancy this year, the landlords decided to try selling the property while buyer demand was strong. However, the apartment remained on the sales market with a local estate agent for around four months with no interest.
Senior Letting Specialist Chris Kilkenny says, “We had kept in regular contact with the clients while the property was on the sales market. Rental demand has been sky high in Oxford this year, and we knew that we would be able to let the apartment quickly. As the weeks passed, we started to recommend that letting the property for at least another year would be a wise option, rather than risk ending up with an empty property sitting on the sales market.”
The client asked us to gauge interest amongst our applicants before agreeing to put the property fully back on the letting market. Our letting team proactively contacted their applicants who were a good match and a let was agreed one hour later to a single professional who loved the size of the apartment and its location, right in the city centre next to the Westgate.
The landlord is delighted; not only did we find a great tenant before the property hit the open market, but this continues the 9-year run of ‘no void periods’ on their rental property. On top of this, we also achieved a 4.35% rent increase on the previous tenancy.
Chris says, “Letting out a property when it has failed to sell can ensure it doesn’t sit empty on the market, costing you money. If it’s your own home, rather than an investment property, it can even facilitate your onward move. This can be done on a short-term basis and you could then try to sell again in a year or so, but you will at least earn income in the meantime and could potentially benefit from capital growth longer-term.”
If you would like to explore the option of letting out your property, we will offer a valuation and provide you with a breakdown of what would need to be done in order to let your property out – without obligation. Call us on 01865 297999 or email central@finderskeepers.co.uk
Published August 2021
